Coffee Shop
by Shyablu
Summary: Destiel au where Dean is a barista and Cas is a college student
1. Iced Coffee

"Iced coffee for Cas" Hearing his name, Castiel looked up from his phone. He hurriedly grabbed his drink, thanking the barista. Cas had been coming to this coffee shop consistently for nearly a year, and he knew everyone who worked there, but this guy was new. He was cute, Cas noted.

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As he reached the front of the line, Cas saw that the new guy, Dean, was at the register. "Tall iced coffee for Cas please", he said quickly.

"So 'Cas'", Dean inquired, "you seem to come around here quite a bit." Cas was caught off guard.

"I uhm, I go to the community college just down the street"

"Really? What's your major?"

"Oh, um art"

"Hm. You any good?"

Cas blushed. "I guess?"

"You're holding up the line" Jo reminded Dean from the register beside him.

"Right, sorry" Dean blushed in turn. "Will that be all for you today?"

**Author's Note: Hi this is the first story I've really ever written and I know it's short but I will continue updating and I hope you like it! I'm open to all feedback! (Btw this story is somewhat inspired by _Coffee and Turtles_ by tardisbluecurls so if you're a Hamilton fan go read that) **


	2. Memories

Dean liked sex. He had sex with anyone who would have sex with him: men, women, everything in between. He wasn't picky. But however much he wanted to be open, Dean had to be careful. He knew how it went. "Pick a side!" They said. He didn't seem to fit in with any community.

Dean remembered the day he came out to his dad.

·

_"Hey, dad, can I talk to you? It's important" Dean motioned for his dad to sit down._

_John raised his eyebrows, sitting in the chair across from Dean. "What's so important?"_

_"I, um" Dean took a breath. "I have something to tell you"_

_John sighed. He was beginning to get annoyed. "Spit it out"_

_"I think I-I'm pansexual?" Dean rushed the words, looking at his feet. After getting no response, he glanced up cautiously, his eyes begging for acceptance. "Well?"_

_John looked into his son's eyes, seeing he had a decision to make. He made the wrong one. "What the hell is a pansexual? You jack off to kitchenware?"_

_"No- it actually means-"_

_"Whatever" John interrupted. "I don't care who you wanna fuck, just keep me out of it" He stood up, pushing his chair our with an awful scraping sound. Dean watched as he stomped out of the room. His footsteps continued through the house, coming to a stop with the slam of the front door. _

_·_

"Hey! Did you hear me?" Dean blinked, coming out of his memory. "You need to restock the register before you leave, got it?"

"Uh sure, yeah" He responded, without really hearing what Jo had said.

Jo sighed. She knew Dean. Hell, she knew almost everything about him, and she knew that her responsibility as one of his best friends was to make sure he was okay. "Dean, look, I get it, but you have to stop letting this happen. Living in the past won't change what happened."

"Yeah, I know" He smiled at Jo. "But I'm good. Really. You can go home. I'll close up."

Jo raised her eyebrows. "You're sure that you're okay?"

Dean let out an exasperated sigh, rolling his eyes teasingly. "Yes, I'm fine."

"Alright then, see you tomorrow." She said, smiling warmly as she left. Dean smiled back, but the smile dropped as soon as she was out of sight.

Dean had tried to forget. He didn't like to remember the bad things, so he tried not to think about them. But when they did come back, when those moments replayed in his head, he couldn't stop them. And with those memories came emotions, emotions he tried to hide for so long.

He took a shuddering breath, trying desperately not to let the emotions take over.

_"It's your fault"_

Dean suddenly became unstable, his vision blurring as he grabbed a chair for balance. He lowered himself into the chair, squeezing his eyes shut. Taking deep breaths, he slowly opened his eyes. Still feeling shaky, but well enough to walk, Dean made his way around the shop, preparing for the next day. Satisfied that everything was in order, he allowed himself to go home. As he pushed the door open, the bell tinkled, laughing at Dean.

_"You can't even be alone for a few minutes without having a mental breakdown?"_

Turning back to lock the door, his reflection in the glass seemed to laugh along with the bell.

·

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Dean's eyes snapped open. His eyelids weighed heavily, but he refused sleep. He reached for his coffee cup, finding it empty. Grumbling softly, he pushed himself out of bed. He shuffled past Crowley's door, being careful not to make too much noise. He reached the kitchen and refilled his cup. As he put the coffee pot back in place, a light flicked on behind him. _Crap._

"Dean..? What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm getting coffee" Dean explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"No shit" Crowley mumbled, "but why are you getting _coffee_ at 3 am!" He motioned dramatically at the microwave clock.

Dean shrugged in response, shoving past Crowley as he returned to his room.

"Dean... You have to sleep sometime."

"No I don't" Dean shut the door, cutting off his roommate. He took a sip of coffee. He knew it was bad, but he tried not to sleep in the days after his "episodes", as Jo called them. His dreams only came in the form of bad memories for those few days after.

He picked up his phone, smiling sadly at his lock screen. It was a picture of Sammy standing in his new Stanford dorm, grinning ear to ear. Dean had been so proud of him. He'd gotten a full ride scholarship. He never saw Sam anymore. He was always studying, or else he was off with Jessica.

Dean unlocked his phone, opening Instagram. Memes always made him feel better. As he was about to scroll, something caught his eye. A new follow request had popped up. "_Castiel (@cas.tiel) wants to follow you_". The name looked familiar to Dean, but he couldn't place it. As he clicked on the account, it dawned on him. Dean chuckled. He thought back to that morning, remembering how flustered that kid had been, and how cute Dean thought it was. He looked through the pictures, careful not to like them. (he didn't want to look like a stalker!) The account was fairly new, only going back 6 months. Scrolling to the very first picture, Dean saw it was a close up picture of Castiel's eye. The deep blue color was incredibly vibrant. He smiled softly as he read the caption. "_Have a good day!_ ;)" Dean scrolled back to the top, allowing Cas to follow him, the following Cas in turn.

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Castiel's phone buzzed. Putting aside his sketchbook, he picked up the phone, reading the notification at the top of his the screen.

"_Dean Winchester (@deannnnnnnn) accepted your follow request_"

_Buzz_.

"_Dean Winchester (@deannnnnnnn) started following you_"

**Author's Note:**

**Hi! Sorry for the whole wrong uploading thing :( ****Thanks for reading, I hope u like it so far! Plz comment feedback and stuff!**


	3. Chills

Cas pushed open the door, hearing the familiar jingle of the bell. Taking in his surroundings, he saw there was only one other person in the shop. Considering that the shop was usually packed, he was surprised by the emptiness. Even on an off day, most of the tables were usually taken.

Walking up to the register, Cas was taken aback. Cups were strewn about, sugar packets were spilling onto the floor, and the sink was overflowed, not the mention the fact that nobody was even behind the counter. Jo had obviously taken the day off. "Hello?" There came a sudden clattering from the back room. Cas looked at the door, slightly concerned, maybe even a bit scared. His original fear changed to a new kind of fear when a certain person appeared in the doorway. Still tying his apron, Dean made an effort to clean up the mess which was the kitchen. His rumpled brown hair and wrinkled uniform made it look as if he had just woken up from a nap (which incidentally, he had). Dean reached the register, looking up with a smile, which turned to surprise upon seeing Cas, which he tried to cover with another smile. Cas could see that Dean was doing his best to keep himself together, despite the fact that he himself was in disarray.

"Hey, uhh, what can I get for you today?"

Cas raised his eyebrows. "Have you slept at all in the past week?"

"Yeah, I uhh..." Dean trailed off, staring into the distance.

"_What?_" Cas looked at him with concern.

"Yes. The answer is yes. In fact, I uh, just woke up from a nap." Dean pointed to the door of the back room, laughing weakly.

"Ah. I see" Cas nodded, putting a tight smile on.

Dean took a breath, trying to pull himself together. "Sorry, um, I'm assuming you'll have the usual?"

"Yes?" Cas smiled as Dean wrote his name on the cup. He couldn't believe that Dean had actually been paying enough attention to know his order. _It's a miracle that Dean knows his own name at this point, considering his current state. _Cas laughed internally_. _

"What?" Dean looked up at Cas. He looked back with alarm, wondering if Dean had somehow read his mind. _Shut up. Mind reading isn't real._

"I...didn't say anything" Cas responded.

"Oh..." Dean looked down, a pout on his lips.

Cas took a breath. "Ok then, I'm gonna...go sit down." Cas turned on his heel, tripping over his own foot. Time seemed to slow as his body fell through the air, fumbling for anything to grab on to. Pain shot through his body as he slammed into something solid. He looked up, seeing the table onto which he had fallen, which just happened to be the table of the single other person in the shop. The woman looked at him with an open mouth, wearing a face of disgust and disbelief. Cas muttered a sorry as he got up, eyes averted.

Back on his feet, Cas noticed that Dean was staring at him. Cas groaned internally. He had just made himself look like a complete klutz in front of Dean. _Goddamnit!_

"Are you okay?" Dean asked, as if Cas had just sustained a mortal injury.

"Uh, yeah. I just tripped"

"Okay, good. I'm glad you're alright." Dean looked away hurriedly. Cas could feel his face heating up as he turned to find a seat.

Cas successfully made it to a table without any more mishaps, sitting down in a chair facing Dean (and not on accident). Placing his bag in the chair next to him, he opened his book, stealing glances at Dean every few seconds. As Cas looked up for the third time, Dean was looking back at him. The two made eye contact for a split second before both looked away, pretending it hadn't happened. Cas decided it might be a better idea to just ignore Dean, lest he might realize Cas was looking at him.

When his coffee was finally done (which took way longer than it should have), Cas made his way to the pickup counter to retrieve it. Trying not to look stupid again, Cas carefully walked around all of the chairs and tables on his way. Dean held out the iced coffee as Cas reached the counter. When he took the cup from Dean, their fingers brushed and Cas shivered from the chill that ran through his body. Before he turned to go, he once again made eye contact with Dean, and he could have sworn he saw Dean wink at him. He turned back to his seat, wondering if what he saw had been a figment of his imagination. He had no reason to believe it was real, other than the fact that he saw it with his own eyes. But even then, his mind has been playing tricks on him lately. He'd been seeing things that weren't really there, sometimes not seeing things that were there. Ever since what had happened with his dad, Cas hadn't really been in a healthy mindset. _Stop. You're overthinking._

Cas exhaled, sipping from his coffee as he resumed his book. Glancing up at Dean, he was startled by Dean's intense gaze. He only saw it for a second before Dean looked away, but he was sure it had been real. Thoroughly confused, Cas looked back at his book. After rereading the same paragraph 5 times without ever really reading the words, he stopped trying to focus. Cas replaced the bookmark, setting aside the book and opening his sketchbook. His most recent drawing was an angel and a man, the angel's feathered wings folded around the man, protecting him from danger. Cas stared at the drawing, feeling that something was missing, but couldn't think of what.

After contemplating for nearly 5 minutes, he gave up, moving on to the incomplete sketch of a dog. He had the basic shape of the dog, but it still needed depth. He set to work, filling in every incomplete detail. The time passed quickly, and soon Cas found his coffee gone and the shop close to closing. He packed up quickly, grabbing his trash. He made his way to the door, shooting a quick smile at Dean as he turned to leave. Just as he was about to drop his cup in the trash, however, he stopped, his hand hovering over the can. He brought the cup closer to his face, his eyes widening. He glanced again at Dean, not believing what he was seeing. Cas looked again at the cup, rereading what was written on the cup. What _Dean _had written on his cup. He quickly took a picture of the writing, hurrying our the door.

Dean watched Cas go, wondering whether he had seen the note. He'd wanted to pull that stunt ever since he started working at the shop, but he hadn't had the nerve. He really didn't want to fuck up his chances with Cas. He actually liked Cas.

_Why couldn't you just be a normal person and ask him for his number? Would that have been so hard? Instead you had to go and put your number on his fucking coffee cup and write "call me" with a stupid smiley face. _Dean took a deep breath. He prepped the shop for the next day, trying not to think about anything. He grabbed the keys and walked to his car, locking the door as he left. He sat in his car for a long time before finally starting it up and pulling out of the lot. He thought a lot about Cas on the drive home.

**Author's Note:**

**I hope you liked this chapter!!! It makes me so happy when people favorite and bookmark this story so thank you so much for reading this! Plz give me feedback as well :) **

**also if you can't tell the italics are like their thoughts or whatever, as well as flashbacks in some places**


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